C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Pentax LX Gold is a limited-edition variant of the standard Pentax LX (1980), produced in 1981 with a 24-karat gold-plated body. Approximately 100 units were made. The camera is mechanically and optically identical to the standard LX - the same hybrid electronic/mechanical shutter, the same OTF metering system, the same interchangeable finder system - but with an externally gold-plated body shell. It was produced as a prestige collectible and gift item rather than as a photographic tool, and most surviving examples show little or no signs of use.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Before you buy used
The LX Gold is a specialist collector item. Standard purchasing cautions apply with additional considerations:
About this camera
A 24-karat gold-plated Pentax LX produced in a limited edition of approximately 100 units as a prestige presentation piece.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Pentax K (KA compatible) |
| Year | 1981 |
| Shutter | 4s - 1/2000s electronic, 1/75s mechanical fallback |
| Flash sync | 1/75s |
| Meter | TTL OTF (off-the-film) SPD |
| Modes | Manual, aperture-priority |
| Weight | ~ same as LX (~565 g) |
| Battery | 2x SR44 |
| Production | ~100 units |
The LX Gold appeared approximately one year after the standard LX's 1980 launch, during a period when Japanese camera manufacturers occasionally produced gold-plated prestige variants for anniversary celebrations, trade show presentations, and diplomatic gifts. Pentax released it in 1981; comparable limited gold-body cameras from the same era include the Nikon FA Gold (1984) and various gold-edition Leicas. Whether the LX Gold was tied to a specific Pentax anniversary or produced purely as a market prestige item is not fully documented.
The camera did not spawn a direct successor within the LX gold line, though the LX Titan (engraved, not gold-plated) and the LX 2000 (1996 anniversary edition) are related prestige variants of the LX platform.
As a functional camera the LX Gold is no different from any other LX. Its interest is entirely collectible: it is among the rarer of the mainstream Japanese SLR gold editions, produced in smaller numbers than the Nikon FA Gold and with a less documented production history than Leica's gold-body cameras.
It illustrates the practice of Japanese camera makers in the early 1980s of using premium cosmetics to reach the upper gift and prestige market - a market that overlapped with corporate gifting culture in Japan and luxury retail internationally. The camera's value today is driven almost entirely by condition and completeness of the original presentation set, not by its photographic capabilities.
Mechanically identical to the standard Pentax LX. Accepts the full K-mount lens system (K, KA, KAF, KAF2 - manual focus only). Factory pairing with a gold-finished 50mm f/1.4 SMC Pentax-A has been reported for some presentation sets, but this is unverified for all units.
Standard LX accessories apply: Motor Drive LX, Winder LX, FA-1 / FB-1 / FC-1 finders. Gold-body compatibility with these accessories is functional but cosmetically mismatched unless accessories are also gold-finished (none of the standard accessories were).
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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